Posted
by
Soulskill
on Wednesday May 09, 2012 @02:25AM
from the they-even-work-upside-down dept.

angry tapir writes "One Laptop Per Child Australia had a win in the recent Australian budget, receiving federal government funding for the first time. OLPC Australia will benefit from $11.7 million of funding, which will be used to purchase 50,000 laptops to distribute to students. The organization recently launched a new initiative that builds an educational ecosystem around the laptops, to help integrate them into the learning process."

So you could get a cheaper computer. Then what? You need them configured, a support structure, additional software etc. All that costs money. You can't just take the experience of someone buying a computer for themselves and translate it to the needs of the government buying 50,000 units.

Like you, I did the calculations and was frankly surprised at how cheap it worked out to be.

Using an OLPC to teach repair is just so flat out stupid I could spit. Teaching a student how to take apart and put together a specific laptop (keyboard, screen, case, mainboard) that has all of the complexity of an eight piece lego set is pointless. Better off, collect random broken toasters, provide tools, and challenge the students to put together one that can toast bread.

This is exactly what the OLPC was made for - distribution in third world countries!

But seriously, it always makes me angry when I see the notebook computers that some schools force their students to use. Big heavy 15" models are stupid to be carried every single day even by adults, let alone small children. You would think that inexpensive, small netbooks should be a no-brainer.

Your core point here is fair enough, and I agree with it, but there are a lot of factors you aren't considering.

Notebooks tend to have much more power, are much easier to work with, and have CD/DVD drives.
Netbooks don't.

Now, I loved my netbook for years, but most educational software is still disc based, and a lot of educational software is a bit bloated and requires a bit of horsepower. When you look at math and graphing tools, the need for power is even more important.

As an IT guy for a school, CD Drives are completely unnecessary in student laptops/netbooks.
While most software publishers send the software to us on CD, I rip it off the CD and package it into an app that'll run fine on the computer (usually there's no copy protection to worry about) then it's just as simple as rolling it out over the network.

You're a good man for being willing to do that, but if you're in the US, you may be in violation of the DMCA. Educational publishers can, and will, get extremely pissed off at such things in my experience.

Notebooks tend to have much more power, are much easier to work with, and have CD/DVD drives. Netbooks don't.

The student laptops that I have seen didn't really have much non-standard software (non-office products). The education software that it did have did not require a CD to install. I know this because I was given the software to install on the mother's work computer, to which I said to go get stuffed! Remember the schools get to dictate which software is used. If it doesn't work on their school mandated computers then they will choose other software.

Now, I loved my netbook for years, but most educational software is still disc based, and a lot of educational software is a bit bloated and requires a bit of horsepower. When you look at math and graphing tools, the need for power is even more important.

Heh. You may joke but there's considerable poverty in some of the more remote communities in Oz, this could be a considerable educational boost to some of the deprived, rural towns I passed through on my travels here a couple of years back.

This is exactly what the OLPC was made for - distribution in third world countries!

This is an insult to Australia and will punished by a good kicking in the butt. Be glad you didn't question the water rotation in the local toilets. The last time that happened the US embassy had to be evacuated.

But seriously, it always makes me angry when I see the notebook computers that some schools force their students to use. Big heavy 15" models are stupid to be carried every single day even by adults, let alone small children. You would think that inexpensive, small netbooks should be a no-brainer.

Netbooks are out of the question because they are almost impossible to work with on a day-to-day basis (particularly for students with vision problems). That only leaves small, inexpensive laptops, which as I understand it don't exist yet. Ideally you'd be looking at a 12-13" laptop, but they're too damn expensive when you put them up against the 15-17" monsters. To be honest a 15" laptop isn't that big a deal, I have one sitting on my desk which is approximately 1.2kg with the battery in, vs. 1.1kg for an

Once you hand out a computer to everybody, you can expect them to use it. You can start sending assignments per email, or require the to do online research without having to first check if every time if all your pupils have access to a computer.

Give a family that makes 5 grand a year because the dad is a meth addict and the mom is a compulsive gambler (this is just one of the stories I've heard from students) hardware worth (figure 2-3 kids per family, even low end laptops add up) $500 at the pawn shop and what do you think will happen?

I was thinking along the lines of other posters that I'd spend the money on standard hardware instead of a OLPC device, until I read your comment.

I do agree with your comments (and others) who have said that simply handing out laptops to everyone isn't a magic cure, it does seem worth pointing out that going for OLPC rather than something you'd get at a local computer store will help mitigate the risk of the devices being sold off or disappearing because a OLPC device isn't going to be worth anything like $

Well it's a token effort, being about 1% of the $1.5B surplus for which the government is budgeting.

Still, it's a tax deduction for those who'd channel money into the noble cause of the education of Aboriginal children.

In perspective, the current cyncism is that the government is vote-bribing parents of teenage children to the tune of $820. Hence buying an OLPC for a few kids in the bush is comparative pocket change.

The goal of OLPC was to produce a sub-hundred dollar netbook to be distributed to the poor at a price point where charity is possible. This a $234 dollar laptop. Not only is this greater than the $100 goldilocks price point, but their for profit competitors are now cheaper!

Because they are hell to write on. The only way to input any substantial amount of text is with a keyboard (external or dock) which negates most of those advantages of the tablet. In return for possibly lighter hardware the school gets to desk with a lack of software and greater cost.

My daughter was part Kevin 07s laptop trial program a couple of years ago in a Victorian primary school.They gave every student in her year a netbook for $150 with everything on it. Win 7, Office etc. and they used them in just about every class.

It was a really, really good initiative.... until they broke.

The schools had enough seed money to pay a tech to come in and set them up initially, after that there was no more support. Teachers who were technically mind

The OLPC project specifically addresses tech support and is included in the budget. Also the software stackis totally different to a standard PC. It is focussed on collaborative learning and is totally open-sourced. It is very different to a standard commercial software distribution with canned teaching.